UNU-GEST Women in Geothermal Sciences: A Visual Ethnography

The UNU-GEST project “Women in Geothermal: a Visual Ethnography” has a working subtitle “Steam up!” The project is a research-inspired documentary narrative created to explore and examine the experiences of women in the emerging geothermal energy field, and gender equality in the workplace across cultures using comparative case studies from different countries. Women participating in the project are at diverse points in their lifespan, education and career trajectories, in different countries. Their variety of experiences towards their contribution to using geothermal energy as a basis for a green economy and the obstacles to achieving of gender equality within their field of geothermal sciences is analysed and portrayed through multifaceted barriers for career advancement and personal/social empowerment. UNU-GEST conducts the research in collaboration with documentary partners, Bless Bless Productions, and Women in Geothermal (WinG). Bless Bless is an independent documentary film production company that specializes in productions about gender, injustice, women and human rights. WinG is a not-for-profit professional association in the geothermal sector with a mission to promote education, professional development and advancement of women in the geothermal community while raising awareness about women´s issues in the workplace. The first phase of the research took place in early November 2016 with fieldwork in Ethiopia focusing on the achievements of women in Africa within the field, their positive impact and the potential geothermal energy has for producing sustainable energy in the region. This first phase will be followed up by fieldwork in Iceland, Kenya, Japan and New Zealand. The research was led by Erla Hlín Hjálmarsdóttir, Head of Research at UNU-GEST, and was handed over to Dr. Giti Chandra, affiliated scholar at UNU-GEST, in May 2018.